Malibu
by avngstories
Summary: Set during the events of "Iron Man 2", this is the back story of what happened when Natasha wasn't with Stark, what happened after the fight with Rhoades and how Clint got to New Mexico. Serious hints to a previous mission mishap. Disclaimer: all characters belong to Marvel/Disney.
1. Chapter 1

Set during the events of "Iron Man 2", this is the back story of what happened when Natasha wasn't with Stark, what happened after the fight with Rhoades, and how Clint got to New Mexico. Serious hints to a previous mission mishap. Disclaimer: all characters belong to Marvel/Disney.

**Malibu**

Chapter 1

As she was returning to "Natalie's" apartment after a really lousy day at Stark Industries, Natasha mused on how she was really starting to hate Malibu. No, scratch that, she was really starting to hate Stark. Since when did a spy of her caliber get assigned protective detail? She felt bad for him, but he was truly insufferable. What Pepper saw in him, she doesn't know.

As she shuffled through the dark apartment, she noticed it. The table was laid out with a pizza box, a six pack of beer, and what looked like a mini flashlight set on its end to resemble a candle. _"hmm, speaking of insufferable"_, she thought.

Obviously not seeing him the living room of the smallish flat, she took her time walking to the bedroom.

He was there, lying upside down off the bed, reading a book. He pretended to ignore her. She smiled despite herself. Leaning against the door frame with a mock disapproving look, she only let a few seconds pass before giving in.

"Is it better upside down?" she asked.

Her tease drew a smirk and Clint flipped up off up the bed, crossing the distance between them in 2 steps.

"Why don't you come find out", he propositioned, softly pulling her arms toward him.

Natasha rolled her eyes and glided back to the kitchen table, intent on finding the beer. Clint followed like a puppy. She opened two bottles, jabbed one in his direction, and took a long drink of hers. Clint took a drink, set the bottle on the table, adopted his typical straight military posture, and waited for the scolding that was about to come. His snarky maneuver was not lost on her. Any other time and Natasha would have taken the opening to harass him in an instant. But tonight, she was just too tired and too happy to see him.

Striding to the couch and dropping into it with a sigh; she gave Clint the glance he was waiting for.

"Come sit with me?" she asked almost sweetly. Well, sweetly for her anyway.

Never one to waste time, Clint plopped down beside her, giving her a big grin. She put her head on his shoulder.

"How's it doing?" she asked, nodding to the other shoulder.

"It's good. I should be cleared by medical in few days".

"I'm glad." She said, leaning into his good shoulder a little tighter.

It had been a month since the accident and the surgery, and Clint was relieved that Natasha was finally not mad at him anymore. The one who got hurt was the one who was in trouble – at least in Clint and Natasha's world anyway. He contemplated his next words carefully. If he asked about the current mission, she'd think he was trying to avoid the obvious. If he went straight to their last mission, she'd think he wanted to fight. Clint hadn't broken about dozen SHIELD rules to get here, just to fight.

"Want some pizza? He offered.

She shrugged. He could read the meaning of even her tiniest movements. She was really saying _"I just want to sit with you._

Sitting, he could handle.

After a few minutes, it seemed safe enough to talk.

"So, what's it like babysitting a billionaire", he started, nonchalantly. "Champaign and caviar, and all that?"

"He's dying of palladium poisoning."

"Well that sucks."

"Yeah, but I don't want to talk about him."

"_ugh oh, dangerous territory, fall back", _he thought. Back to sitting still with his mouth shut.

"_Dam"_, his head was killing him and just wanted to take his aids out. But, he thought about how incredibly much his didn't want to have think about that subject right now. He'd stick with the headache for a little while longer.

"Clint?"

"Yeah?"

"You can kiss me now."

Clint obliged, pulling her into an embrace, slowly, deliberately, kissing her softly on the mouth.

She pulled back, not out of rejection, but of contentment, laying her head on his good shoulder again.

"Clint?"

"Yeah?"

"If you were dying, what would you do? I mean what would you spend your time doing?"

He took a deep breath , "Well, guess if I had time then I would do whatever I wanted to do, with whoever I wanted to do it with," he said leaning into her.

She smiled, her eyes still closed. "Isn't that what we're doing right now?"

"That's cause all us are dying, Nat. We're always dying and we just need to learn to our best with the time we've got left."

She swallowed hard and hugged him tight. He leaned his head back and just held her in that position for as long as she would let him. After a few minutes, her grip loosened and she relaxed into him.

"All done talking about death?" he ventured.

Natasha nodded and started caressing his torso softly. At this point, he really wasn't sure which way the evening was going to go. Then, her caresses became a little more obvious. Maybe it's going to go ok after all, he thought.

"Natasha", he whispered softly in her ear.

She left his side to sit on his lap, straddling him, and leaned in for another kiss. She sat up, about to find a slightly more comfortable position. After all, she planned on being here a while. He took that second to stretch his neck back, closing his eyes. When Clint sat up again, Natasha had her palm out, fingers wiggling, in the "hand them over motion". Busted. As quickly as only a sniper could do, he slipped the aids out and into his pocket without comment. She smiled and returned to kissing him. Clint closed his eyes, so the only sensations he had was of the woman he loved sitting on his lap, kissing him.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

As Natasha lay in bed with Clint sleeping beside her, she really wished she could put this morning on repeat, never having to leave by 6am. He rustled awake and pulled her close him.

"You're not leaving, are you?" he grumbled.

"Gotta go with Stark to Monaco."

Natasha popped out of bed, showered, and was out the door looking gorgeous in under 20 minutes. Clint was still wallowing on the bed when she kissed him goodbye.

_Great, he thinks, now what am I going to do all day. _Clint knows what he needs to do. He's just not looking forward to having to do it.

"_Better go find Phil"_

Phil Coulson was sitting in the base mess hall, quietly enjoying a cup of coffee when Clint walked up and sat down across from him.

"Hey Phil! What's up?"

Phil sighed in the way that only he can and placed his cup down carefully. Agent Clint Barton is not supposed to be at this base. Barton is not supposed to be in the state of California. Barton is supposed to be back in New York in physical therapy. They've been friends for too long for Phil to bitch him out for real, so Coulson just sighs again and pretends he's not there.

Barton leans back in his chair, propping his foot up on the table, fingers laced behind his head, "Miss me?" he jokes.

"No."

"So what's new?"

"So what's your excuse for being here?" Coulson says, finally giving in.

"Well, I have to get the shoulder evaluated before I'm cleared for active duty and the only doc that can do happens to be stationed here right now." He stated satisfactory grin.

"Really?"

"Really."

"I wonder how that happened." Phil asked while rolling his eyes and giving Clint the _"yeah right"_ look.

"Evidently, his transfer orders just came through a few days ago."

Phil just sipped his coffee. Clint got up and got himself one too. Sitting back down, he gave Phil the sign for _sorry_. Natasha may longer be mad at him for the whole window thing, but Phil still was.

Couslon considers Barton's apology for a minute. Coulson wasn't mad that Barton has broken position and decided to repel through a rather large window to assist his cornered partner. He'd done it before, and Coulson knew he'd do it again. No one reviewing the report would even blink after reading that Clint Barton had pulled some dam heroic shit and pulled the mission back from the edge of disaster. Phil Coulson was mad because after nearly 10 years of working in the field together, Agent Clint Barton had lied to him about why he'd done it. And the point was, Barton hadn't needed to lie to him.

Coulson didn't have the time today for a staring contest with Barton, so he decided to cut the drama short. It was just better that way.

"Are you going to tell me what really happened?" Coulson asked with a not so happy look on his face.

"My comm went down."

"All the communication links went down, Barton. They hit us with some sort of electromagnetic pulse!"

"Well I know that now. But how the hell was I supposed to know it wasn't just mine?" shot back. He was trying to keep it friendly, not get into with Phil this early in the morning when Clint wasn't even supposed to be here in the first place. But now, he was showing more emotion than he intended. _Dam it, Phil, why can't you just get it?,_ he thought.

Coulson leaned in, signing, _I get it Clint. Just don't lie to me about it._ And with that, Coulson stood up and walked away.


	3. Chapter 3

An hour later Coulson is in a control room monitoring Stark in Monaco when all hell breaks loose.

"Romanoff here! Sir, we've got a situation."

"Stark behaving badly again?"

"No sir. There's a pissed off guy with whips powered by what looks like an arc reactor."

"Come again Agent?"

The techs already have the satellites aimed at the scene and Coulson can't believe what's unfolding before his eyes. He snaps his fingers at another tech to route the feed to Fury's desk.

SHEILD watches as Stark in the Iron Man suit and the whip wielding guy battle. It's over in minutes and the guy is on the ground.

"Sir?" Romanoff questions. "Coulson!" she hisses as loud as she can without being overheard by the mass of people huddle by the window watching the scene.

"Fall back Agent Romanoff." Fury's voice booms over the comm link. "Maintain your cover until further instructions. I want to see what happens."

Natasha opens her mouth, but no words come out. _See what happens?_ _See what happens?_ "Дрисня. "She swears to herself in Russian and wonders if Fury has finally lost his mind.

It's lunch time at the LA base and the mess hall full of agents and support personnel. Fury and Coulson walk in, quietly discussing what to tell the council about the Monaco incident. Barton is still sitting at the same table as before, reading a book. Fury notices him.

"What the hell is Barton doing here?" he barked at Coulson.

Clint looked up, trying to look as innocent as possible. _Trying._

"I called him in, Sir. Thought we could use another set of eyes on the situation."

"Good thinking." Fury said gruffly and strode a way.

Barton knew better than to open his mouth.

"Get your ass over to Medical and get cleared. We might actually need you over the next 36 hours."

"Yes Sir!" Barton overdid the military style sir just a little.

Coulson ignored it a walked away.

_Maybe LA is going to fun after all_, Clint thought to himself.


	4. Chapter 4

_So, what now?_ Thought Natasha as she sat next to a sleeping Happy Hogan on the Stark jet.

Natasha had an entirely different opinion of Happy after seeing what he had done with the car on the race track. For a civilian, the guy was fearless. Clearly, he was completely devoted to Stark and Potts and Natasha knew she could use that to her advantage later.

She that there, pretending to sleep, thinking about the events in Monaco. _Now there TWO arc reactor weapons?_ _And who the hell was that crazy guy anyway?_ Agent Natasha Romanoff had never seen or heard of him before, but clearly he was very resourceful - and dangerous. A guy like that wasn't going to stay locked up for long.

Natasha watched as Stark fumbled around the galley before joining Pepper in the main cabin. Natasha heard every word of the argument. Pepper was pissed as hell and Stark handled it badly. Then, Natasha didn't hear anything. Stark had just stopped talking to Pepper.

_Tell her asshole, tell her before it's too late… _But Stark didn't tell Pepper the truth about his condition. Tony didn't tell the woman he loved he was dying. As soon as the plane landed, Stark simply walked off, leaving Pepper behind. Natasha heard poor Pepper crying to herself. _ Only a man could screw something up this badly_! Was all Natasha could think as "Natalie" bent down to try to comfort Pepper.

"It's going to be ok you know." She soothed, patting Pepper on the hand. The guilt of that lie stung a bit.

"Natalie?" sniffed Pepper.

"Yes, Miss Potts."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome Miss Potts. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Can you help me clean up this mess with the press?"

"Of course." She said sweetly has she helped Pepper down the stairs and into the waiting car.


	5. Chapter 5

Agent Clint Barton was cleared for field duty by 3:00 with orders to take it easy on the shoulder. So, of course, he went straight to the armory to find a bow. It'd been over a month since he'd practiced and Clint felt like one of his appendages was missing. The first shot tweaked his shoulder and barely hit the target, let alone the bull's eye. Clint looked around really hoping no saw THAT shot. He had a reputation as the agency's best archer, probably the best archer in the world. But right now, Clint Barton was just hoping to hit the damn center of a paper target. Shots 2-15 got progressively better. But now his shoulder hurt.

When Senior Agent Phil Coulson found him, Clint was seriously contemplating whether this practice had been such a good idea. Phil, being Phil, noticed the pitiful display.

"Go find some fancy civi clothes, I'm sending you in as back up for Romanoff tonight."

"Where?"

"Stark's Malibu house." Said Coulson as he tossed Barton a pair of comms.

"Oh, that place. He ever fix the hole in the roof?"

Phil chuckled a little, remembering the satellite footage of Tony Stark crashing back down into his house after his first flight test in the Iron Man suit.

"Simply surveillance, concealed weapons only, Agent." Said Phil, nodding to the bow.

Barton didn't know whether to be insulted or relieved.

It had been a long afternoon helping Potts with damage control. Tony was pissing Pepper off at every opportunity and Natasha needed a break.

Agent Natasha Romanoff had just stepped outside to get some fresh air when she sensed someone behind her. And she knew exactly who that someone was.

"Did you really think you could sneak up on me?" It was the way she always greeted him when he tried it.

Natasha spun around to glare at Clint "WHAT do you think you're doing?" she hissed.

"Cleared for duty and Coulson sent me." He quickly whispered out, handing her one pair of comms, motioning her to exchange them for the ones in her ears.

"Oh." She whispered back, expression softening a bit. Comms in, they both tested. Satisfied with the results, Clint quickly disappeared around the corner.

"Agent Romanoff, read me."

"I read you Agent Barton."

"You're mission ma'am. I'm just here as support."

Romanoff smirked a little at that comment, but let it slide.

"Command asks that if you have time to check the security of the suits."

"Understood. I think I can get in there now." And Romanoff slipped off to the lower levels of the house. Stark was in his bedroom, barely able to move due high levels of palladium in his system.

Romanoff approached the lab carefully. Her first hurdle was JARVIS. Stark had given Natalie a fair amount of access the first day he hired her to replace Potts. Romanoff knew she couldn't hack JARVIS, not yet anyway. But, maybe she could 'sweet talk him'. Seduction was one of her primary weapons after all.

"Hello Miss Rushman." It said as soon as she approached.

"I, uh, um," she started, just like Natalie had the first day. "Mr. Stark sent me to retrieve something, but I'm not sure where it is."

"Certainly, Miss Rushman." So now, the AI wouldn't be concerned that she was scanning the room.

"The box, the silver box. Do you know where it is?"

"To which silver box are you referring? There are four."

_Damn_, this was going to take too long. _Here goes nothing…_

"It's just that, I don't know, and I'm so afraid he's going to be mad at me if I can't find it. You don't think he'd fire me if I can't find do you Jarvis?" She blurted out, sounding a pathetic as possible.

"I don't think failure to find something is grounds for termination, Miss Rushman."

"But, but, …" she stammered on, carefully searching the equipment. Her behavior was falling in line with expected parameters. Finally, Romanoff found the panel to the suit storage area.

"In there! It's in there!" she blurted out.

"Certainly Miss Rushman." And the door popped open.

_What? What the hell Tony Stark? Even your computer system is a pathetic hetero male? _ Natasha hoped that if she ever got the chance, she'd like to tell Stark his algorithms needed some work. Grabbing the random object, she spun around to admire the suits.

As Romanoff stared at the collection, she couldn't help but marvel at it. Tony Stark's Iron Man weapons made even the most advance SHIELD weapons look like toys. Briefly, Natasha wondered what it would be like to have that much fire power. Then, quickly remembering that the arc reactor power core was killing Stark, she thought she'd pass.

Staying in character, Natasha hesitantly touched the control panel to the windowed cabinet holding the silver suite.

"I'm sorry, Miss Rushman, you can't touch that. One more move and I will have to alert Mr. Stark."

"No, of course, I'm sorry JARVIS." She quickly pulled away. But what she was able to ascertain was that the panel was secure. It had a bio-identification screen, making sure that only Tony Stark could open it. But then, Romanoff noticed something was off. Why was this suit silver when all the others were a goldish red? She took a step back and compared them. The silver suit was definitely different. It wasn't even the same size as the others. _Shit_, she thought. _This suit isn't for Stark_. It's for someone else. Natasha could here Fury's curses in her head now. This Iron Man weapon stuff was escalating faster than anyone could have anticipated.

"Thank you JARVIS!" she blurted out and ran for the door.


	6. Chapter 6

Natasha slowed her pace at the top of the stairs, composing herself as Natalie. She needed a quiet place to contact Barton, but Pepper got to her first.

"What were you doing down there, Natalie?" asked Pepper suspiciously. Her eyes were red from crying.

"I, um, I just got lost in the house again, Miss Potts."

"Well, can you please go help Mr. Stark get ready for the party? I just can't take him anymore today?" she asked curtly while walking away.

"Of course Miss Potts." Natasha mumbled. _Can't wait to get the guy alone in room and beat the crap out him…_

Natasha hurried across the house towards Stark's bedroom, stopping only to adjust her dress and smooth her hair. Natasha couldn't actually beat Tony tonight, but she was going to surely torture him!

On the hill above the house, Agent Clint Barton crouched behind some brush, looking down on the mansion with binoculars. Skinny rich people in fancy cars were starting to arrive for Tony Starks's birthday party. _Gonna be a boring night_, thought Clint.

Romanoff quickly tapped her earpiece "Hawk, read me?"

"Read you Widow."

Natasha knocked on the door of Stark's bedroom suite. No answer. Another knock. More silence.

"Mr. Stark, Miss Potts sent me to help you get ready for the party."

Hearing only a grunt, she opened the door and walked in. Tony Stark was a pathetic sight sprawled out on his chair. She knew he was sick from the palladium, but he was also drunk. _Fabulous_, she thought. _This is going to be too easy_. Natasha proceeded to _try_ encourage him to finish getting ready, but Stark just kept drinking.

Finally, Natasha had enough of his self-pity and made her move.

"Do you know which watch you'd like to wear tonight, Mr. Stark" she said, turning on the sex appeal.

Stark blinked back at her in shock. He mumbled something about which one to her. Natasha proceeded to move over to him, putting the watch on for him, causing Stark to jump out of his skin.

"Natalie?"

"Yes Mr. Stark."

"If this was your last birthday party, what would you do?"

_Man, this was going to be so easy_ thought Natasha. Slowly, arching her back, making sure all Stark could see was her chest, she leaned into him…

"Well, I suppose I'd do whatever I wanted, with whoever I wanted" she cooed back.

Up on the hill Agent Clint Barton nearly lost his footing laughing so hard. _That's my girl_, he thought.

"Take it easy on him on him Widow; the guy is dying after all." Barton whispered over the comm link.

The faintest smile washed over her face as she pulled back from a slack jawed Tony Stark

"Will that be all Mr. Stark?" she said politely. Natasha heard him breathe out heavily and mumble as she glided out the door.

Again, Pepper Potts stopped Natasha just as she left the bedroom.

"All ready then?" Spat out Pepper. Uh, oh, Pepper's eyes were popping out of her head.

"Yes, Miss Potts. All ready." Natasha looked at the ground and hurried away, trying to put as much distance between herself and Pepper as possible.

Finally, Natasha found a closet to duck into. "Barton. Call Coulson. Tell him that Stark has created a 2nd Iron Man suit for someone else."

"Who?"

"I don't know, but this is bad Barton. This is very bad. I recommend a strike team on stand bye."

"Roger that Widow, Barton out."

Natasha composed herself in the closet.

"Widow?"

"Widow here."

"Command says the air force already has a strike team in place."

"Oh shit."

"Yep. Those guys can't aim."

Natasha pressed her hands to her face one last time before exiting her closet hideout.

She entered the main room of the house and took in the scene. This was indeed very bad. The house was filling up with people. The music was loud and the drinks were free. Stark was…

_Holy shit mother of_…was all Natasha could think when she saw Tony Stark come out in the Iron Man suit, still drunk off his ass.

"Barton, Stark is in the middle of the party with the suit on!"

"What? Is that a good idea?"

"Absolutely not"

Stark grabbed the microphone and started showing off to the crowd. Pepper ran up to him and tried to get the microphone away from him, but he kept taking it back.

_Try Pepper! Try again_. Thought Natasha. But Pepper walked away from Tony, holding back tears.

Then, the scene turned from bad to horribly worse a few seconds later when Stark suddenly let loose a burst of energy from the suit, taking out an entire wall of interior glass.

"Shit Widow, what was that?" yelled Barton over the comm.

Natasha ran over to Stark, intending to 'coax' him into stopping this insanity. But the Iron Man suit was like nothing Romanoff had ever encountered. Stark fired again with Nataha holding onto the arm of the suit. Stark lifted her off the ground as if she were the same weight as a piece of paper. Natasha jumped back from Stark and ran to a corner.

"Barton, we can't wait for a strike team." she yelled back, not caring if she was heard. Which she couldn't have been because people were screaming and running. Some of the guests, probably the drunker ones, thought it was funny that Stark was shooting things and stayed to watch.

"We're going to have to evacuate civilians. I repeat, we have civilians in the direct line of fire." Romanoff yelled over the comm. Barton had already changed his comm line to a frequency that would broadcast to every agent in range and was running down the hill to the house.

"South side, back door!" she yelled again. "I'm getting Potts out of here."

Natasha had just spotted Pepper, running to her, getting chewed out by Pepper for this somehow being Natalie's fault, when the whole room full of people gasped and tried to get out the way. Standing in the middle of the room was someone in the silver Iron Man suit.

The face mask flipped up and Natasha startled. It was Col. Rhoades, Stark's best friend. Rhoades was an air force pilot and he knew his shit. Pepper, gasped, and started crying again when she saw Rhoadie in the suit, demanding that Tony stand down.

Natasha grabbed Pepper by arm and started dragging her to the side of the room. But Pepper was screaming, and everyone else was screaming. Stark and Rhoades were fighting in armoured suits!

Clint was already through the back door, motioning for people to follow him. He held the door, herding people with hands, yelling for them to move quicker. A petite girl wearing next to nothing stumbled, and was about to be trampled when Clint scooped her up and carried her out over his shoulder.

Somewhere in the chaos Happy Hogan found Pepper and Natasha. Romanoff yelled to him to take Pepper and run. Natasha was going back to take Stark and Rhoades. Col. Rhoades was good man, and Romanoff was sure that he wasn't prepared to do what it was that had to be done.

"Romanoff, status?" Barton yelled.

"Gotta stop this now before they blow the place up!"

"What are going to stop them with, a handgun and kitchen chair? Fall back Romanoff, do you hear me? I said fall back!" Clint yelled again, already back to the door after having dumped the girl on the shoulders of two men.

People were still running against her as she headed back to main room. Rhoades and Stark fight had brought them back to the main room and the two were in a standoff at this point. Hands up, ready to fire.

"Oh, shit, maybe is prepared to do it?" she mumbled to know one. _Shit shit shit._

By this time, everyone had cleared the house and Clint was still at the back door, waiting for Natasha.

She crouched down behind a piece of overturned furniture. Rhoades never took his eyes off Stark.

"…what are you prepared to do?" Stark was taunting Rhoades. Rhoades raised the other arm of the suit.

Even thought Natasha couldn't see his eyes through the mask, she could tell from his his stance that Col. Rhoades intended to fire.

Natasha lunged up and ran for door, motioning for Clint to move ahead of her. "Run!" she yelled pulling off her high heels so she could run faster. Catching up to Clint he grabbed her hand and dragged her behind him, down the driveway.

When the blast went off, the party guests had already made it to a safe distance. Romanoff and Barton had just barely cleared the fallout, but made it away in time to avoid any injuries. The the main floor of the house blew apart and they both saw Stark fly off. A few seconds later, Rhoades flew off in a different directon.

The scene at the top of the hill was chaotic. A SHIELD response team was already on the scene and ambulances were on the way. Natasha saw Pepper on the ground, sobbing and despondent. Happy Hogan was beside her. Coulson arrived in a black suburban, jumping out of the door before the truck even stopped. Pepper ordered Happy to leave, telling him she wanted to talk to the government guy by herself. Happy stumbled off to find some kind of transportation for Pepper.

"Romanoff, Barton, status report. Now!" he barked. Natasha wasn't a bit surprised that Phil just blew her cover with Potts. Coulson had been with Potts in the other armored suit battle the year before. He must have thought Potts could handle the shock.

"The house is blown. No civilian injuries as far as we can tell - just a whole bunch of shock." Replied Agent Natasha Romanoff.

"Where is he?"

"Just flew off, can you track him?"

"He's pretty damn fast, but we should be able to find him." Sighed Coulson. Ambulances and local police started arriving, upping the noise level considerably. Coulson turned to look at Pepper Potts on the ground and sighed deeply again. He met her stare with pleasant eyes and a soft smile.

"Are you alright, Miss Potts?" he asked as he knelt down beside her.

Pepper shook her head no and started to tremble. Natasha crossed her arms and stared down at Pepper, not sure what to tell a woman whose boyfriend just quite literally blew up his life. Clint took a stance behind Natasha looking down at Potts like she was some kind of weak, wounded animal. Barton didn't get up close and personal with civilians as much as Nat did.

"One of yours, I suppose?" she sniffed.

"Yes, one of ours." He smiled back. "Agent Romanoff was sent to look after Mr. Stark and you."

Pepper just started sobbing more. Romanoff looked at the house, back to sky, and back again to the house. She was thinking about seeing the silver suit in the lab and then on Col. Rhoades. It had fit Rhoades perfectly.

"Sir! I know why he did it." Romanoff called to Coulson.


	7. Chapter 7

It was midnight by the time Coulson, Romanoff, and Barton get back to base to debrief with Fury. Two shield response teams were finishing securing the stark place. Coulson had sent Pepper Potts home to rest.

SHIELD's senior leaders and their two best agents sat in a small conference room.

"Stark designed that suit for Rhoades, I'm sure of it."

"So you're saying Rhoades was in on this. That's a serious accusation for an Air Force Colonel."

"No, I don't think Rhoades knew about it. I think Stark started all the shit on purpose, just so Rhoades would try and stop him. Think about sir, Stark knows he's not going to make it much longer if he doesn't find a replacement for the palladium core. I think this stunt was Stark's back assward way of getting Rhoades ready to take over for him."

"hmm" mused Fury. "Ok, here's what's gonna happen. We're gonna track Stark down and have a little sit down with him. R/D thinks they might have found a way to ease his symptoms. Hopefully long enough for Stark to find a permanent solution."

Romanoff and Barton exchanged glances.

"I hope you're right, sir." She sighed.

"I'm always right Romanoff," fury Barked" "Don't you know that by now?"

Fury stood up to leave, but paused at the door.

"Good work all of you. Nice to see the old gang back together again." He laughed and walked away.

Clint thought that was just about the most obnoxious thing he had heard Fury say in long time since Fury was the one that had broken up the 'gang" in the first place. Clint's mumbling under his breath was not lost on Coulson and Romanoff. Just then Coulson's phone rang. He listened for minute, his eyes narrowing every second.

"…it's doing what?" "what do you mean 'blinking differently?' "ok, keep me posted every hour."

He hung up and looked at Clint and Nat who were waiting for him to drop whatever other shoe…

"that _thing_ at the New Mexico installation is singing a different song." He said without a hint of emotion.

"Romanoff, you're still on the Stark case. Barton, you're with me." And with that Coulson left the room.

Natasha and Clint sat in silence for another few seconds, knowing their plans for the rest of the night had just been cancelled. _One night? One night?_ Thought Clint. They had finally gotten the chance to work together again for the first time in 6 months, and it lasted one whole night.

Natasha stood up and put her hands on Clint's shoulders. Leaning down, she whispered in his ear, "See you soon." Her hands lingering on his shoulders for another moment before she left.


	8. Chapter 8

At 5:30am Clint was resting on a cot in a control room, waiting for updates on _IT_. He read the folder covered in black and red tape, the folder that contained the history of a glowing blue cube known as the Tesseract. Clint had once had the displeasure of being shot at by a HYRDRA weapon and he couldn't help but notice the similarities in the blue energy.

Natasha was in Natalie's apartment, having slept about 2 ½ hours when her phone rang. It was one of Fury's assistants"

"Director Fury has requested you. There is a car at your door."

"Sure thing." Mumbled Natasha.

35 Minutes later Natasha joined fury in another car parked outside the base.

"Morning, Sir," she nodded.

"Surveillance picked him up about an hour ago at coffee shop. You're with me on this. We're gonna have a talk with him and see if your hypothesis is right."

"Yes Sir."

By 6:30 am the advance team cleared out the coffee shop and Natasha leaned against the car, watching Fury try to coax Stark down off a doughnut sign. She held a small silver brief – case containing a hypodermic needle containing what Fury hoped would help keep Tony Stark alive a few more weeks. Natasha was not a big fan of r/d, but occasionally they managed to produce something useful.

She watched as Stark finally came down off his perch and followed Fury into the coffee shop, a bit like a child following the principal into his office. Natasha couldn't help but be glad she could finally drop her cover with Stark. _Cant' wait to see the look on his face…_ She waited for Fury's orders.

Thankfully, it only took a few minutes for Fury to signal her. As she approached Stark, he startled, and then the truth occurred to him.

"You're so fired." He mumbled

"Not your decision." Romanoff slide into the seat next to Fury.

Stark was less than thrilled that SHIELD had been shadowing him for days now, but Natasha could care less. Her job was to monitor Stark and that's what she did. Coulson had also asked Natasha to keep Pepper Potts safe – and that what was Natasha intended to do. Clearly, Stark was too messed up to think clearly about Pepper's safety. He most likely did care for Pepper, but was not in the frame of mind to make good decisions on her behalf. Thankfully, Phil Coulson was.

At 7:05 am Fury, Stark, and Romanoff entered Fury's car – Fury and Stark in the back seat, Romanoff in the front. The poor driver looked at Romanoff with a little fear in his eyes. The Black Widow was sitting next to him.

"Drive." She snapped.

"y- yes ma'am." He stuttered, and carefully drove towards Malibu.

Stark was deposited back in his damage home by 8:30 am. Phil was there waiting for them, with boxes full of 'surprises" for Stark- his father's secret documents.

As Fury continued to attempt to reason with Stark, Natasha sat in the damaged living room, looking out over the ocean. Phil came looking for her.

"Good work last night, Romanoff".

"hmmf." She mumbled.

"Something on your mind, agent?"

"He's not right for it, Phil."

"But you just convinced Fury to give him chance."

"A chance to fix his jackass mistakes, yes. But after spending a week with guy I just don't see how he could possibly do the things that you might need him to." she sighed deeply.

"Understood," said Coulson. "I need you to stick with Potts while I babysit Stark. We have intel that Anton Vanko has broken out of prison. "

"Told you so…"

"Yes, agent. You were correct. He disappeared, and for that he would have needed help. Until we can find him, Potts is in danger." It was clear that Phil Coulson thought the sun rose and set in Pepper Potts.

"Of course," replied Romanoff. She got up off the floor and headed for what used to be the door. Pausing, she turned back to Phil. "Where's Barton?"

"On a plane to the Dark Energy Base." He said directly, but a tab more softly.

"Well, at least it's a secure base 1000 feet underground - maybe he can manage to stay out of trouble." She sighed as she walked away.

_Let's hope_. Thought Phil.


	9. Chapter 9

Natasha headed back to the apartment, changed into Natalie, and went to look for Pepper Potts. She found Pepper sitting in the office of the CEO of Stark Enterprises. Romanoff was a little surprised to find that the sobbing mess of a woman she had seen not 24 before had been replaced by a stoic and determined business woman who was out to save her company. Pepper was on the phone, giving someone hell when Natasha carefully approached HER desk and sat down. Natasha was impressed with Pepper's ability to compartmentalize her life so efficiently. _Maybe Phil should make her an asset_…mused Natasha as she waited patiently for Ms. Potts to finish her phone call.

Potts greeted Romanoff curtly, "So, still here to spy on me are you?"

"I'm here to protect you Miss Potts. We have good reason to believe that Anton Vanko has escaped prison and we believe you are in danger."

"Oh." Said Pepper with a little fear in her voice.

Natasha didn't want a fearful charge "And that's why we have every precaution in place. I assure you that SHIELD will not let any harm come to you."

"You can assure that can you?" Pepper shot back.

"I can assure you that I've never lost someone I've been tasked with protecting."

"hmf" sniffed Pepper, "so what are you exactly anyway? Spy? Bodyguard? Model? Actress? Which is it NATALIE?"

"It's Agent Natasha Romanoff, actually. And yes, I do all those things Miss Potts. My job with SHEILD requires me to take on many roles." _Bait, trap, club, bullet, scalpel, watcher, hacker, strategist, and now apparently babysitter_, thought Natasha.

"So what do you and SHEILD expect me to do now?" Asked Pepper Potts.

"Exactly what you are doing now, Miss Potts."

"So do you know where Tony is, because he hasn't bothered to call me yet_?" uh, oh_, thought Natasha, _not the water works again_… but Pepper managed to hold it together.

"Mr. Stark is fine. He's at home actually, and being watched by Agent Coulson, and Director Fury for that matter."

Pepper took a deep breath at hearing that Tony was ok and apparently surrounded by a super-secret government agency, "Fine. Let's get back to work then, MISS RUSHMAN."

"Of course, MISS POTTS", said Natasha, smiling.


	10. Chapter 10

The next day Pepper Potts, CEO of Stark Industries arrived at the Stark Expo with her personal assistant, Natalie Rushman at her side. Natasha didn't like this set up one bit. The space was too big. There were too many people. And the only weapons she could conceal in this stupid sheath dress were a 4" Ruger and a 3"blade. What was worse, Coulson was gone, replaced by Sitwell. Romanoff didn't know Sitwell very well and certainly wasn't comfortable having him as her eyes and ears on a mission like this. But since she had no choice, she decided to give the younger agent a chance – for now. Natasha had a large tote bag – some fancy bag that Natalie Rushman might use – with her gear in it just in case.

Pepper wasn't ready to get out of the back of the car yet. Romanoff turned her head away so Happy Hogan was less likely to understand her and checked in with SHIELD.

"Widow here."

"We read you, Widow."

"We're here at the expo now. Where's Stark?"

"In his lab, we think he just did it."

"Did what?" _With Tony Stark, there was no telling…_

"Created a new element to replace the palladium." Came Nick Fury's voice.

"Good to hear." Mumbled Natasha. _So Fury wasn't leaving this mission to a junior agent after all…_

"Romanoff, we think the Air Force has sent the silver suit over to Hammer. Be prepared."

"Yes sir." Pepper was shooting her dirty looks - annoyed with Romanoff's clandestine conversation. "We're going in, Sir. Romanoff out." and she ended the line.

Potts and Romanoff made their way through the crowds of people into the main auditorium and found seats towards the front. Natasha leaned forward like she was fiddling with her shoe.

"Control. Do you read me?"

"Read, you Widow."

"Where's Stark?"

"He just replaced his reactor and it looks like he's about ready to take off."

"Understood." _Take off to where?_

The lights started moving in rhythm to loud music and the crowd leaned forward to catch the act.

The weapons manufacturer Justin Hammer came out on stage dancing like an ass-clown. _Is he high on something?_ The idiot talked on for a while leaving the rest of the audience assuming he was high too.

But then, he said something about presenting…and _oh, you have to be fucking kidding me?_ Thought Natasaha. The floor in the stage open up and up rose several sets of stupid looking Iron Man knock-offs. Drones by the look of them. And what was worse, much worse, the stupid things were armed.

Pepper was alarmed and Natasha tried reassuring her. Even louder music starting playing again and the drones twitched a little.

Romanoff could barely hear what Hammer was saying when another hole in the stage opened, revealing Col. Rhodes in the silver suit. Except now, the silver suit was equipped with an array of heavy caliber weapons. Pepper was approaching panic, and Natasha wished she hadn't decided to leave her gear bag in the car with Happy. Clint's words from the other night were ringing in her ears _"What are you going to stop them with, a handgun and kitchen chair?" Damnit Barton, why aren't you here right now?_

But Barton and Coulson were on the other side of the continent doing who in the hell knows what and Romanoff was on her own. Romanoff was assessing the risks/benefits of getting Potts out of the auditorium right then when the crowd gasped and turned to look at Iron Man descending from the air.

Natasha whispered in her Pepper's ear, "Miss Potts, I need you to continue to stay calm. This is going to get worse before it gets better and I need to know that you will do exactly what I say. Can you do that?"

Pepper nodded, watching Tony stalk around on the stage between Rhodie and Hammer.

Then Romanoff saw Stark give a warning to Rhodes…

"Control! What did he say?"

"He said that Hammer is working with Vanko."

_Figures._

Suddenly Rhodes started acting like he wasn't in control of his suit anymore. Then, like in some bad science fiction movie, all the drones suddenly armed themselves and moved forward.

_Shit. Shit. Shit. _Natasha stopped herself from grabbing Potts and leaving. This is what Fury wanted. This was it – the test Fury had been hoping that Tony Stark would pass. With the lives of innocent civilians in the balance, SHIELD held back its team's waiting in the sky overhead. If Nick Fury was wrong, people were going to die. If he was right, Iron Man would find a way to neutralize the threat.

Iron Man flew back out of the auditorium, trying to call Vanko out. Rhode's suit and some of drones took off after him. The remaining drones took up a position against the audience.

Romanoff pushed Potts forward down the aisle of seats, changing the frequency of her comm link so that Fury could hear everything.

"Romanoff, go get that idiot Hammer and found out where Vanko is." He roared over the mic.

"Pepper, we need to find Hammer now!" yelled Natasha, "how do we get back stage?"

Pepper led the way. She and Romanoff found Hammer at a control panel with a few of his staff, trying desperately to regain control of the drones. Natasha was surprised when Pepper Potts pushed passed her and went after Justin Hammer first. Romanoff held back a second, amused at Pepper's dressing down of this moron. "They've engaged" Sitwell's voice rushed over the comm.

Romanoff quickly moved over to Justin Hammer, grabbed his arm behind his back and slammed into the desk. "Tell me where Vanko is!" she growled in his ear. Hammer screamed at the pain Romanoff was inflicting on several body parts at once.

"m-my facility." He whimpered.

Natasha dropped him, told Pepper she was going after Vanko and rushed off. Pepper Potts was surrounded by security guards at the point and police ran past Romanoff on their way to Hammer. Pepper Potts not in danger at the moment, but Justin Hammer certainly was.


End file.
